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This girl loves shoes [the kind that RUNNN!], so I’m excited about heading to Boston this Saturday through Monday to check out a bunch. Nike’s fall shoe and apparel preview for media types is happening Boston Marathon weekend, so I’m also hoping to soak up some sweet, prime runner rays to fuel up my easily-depleted training tank. I’ll take motivation in any form I can get it, and where better than at one of the most high-tone marathons of ever?

I’ll be blogging (or blerging, as my husband calls it), picture-taking and generally acting as if I’ve just been let out of the basement and deposited directly into a world of hydration belts, Vaseline’d feet, high-end sports bras and GPS-enabled heart rate monitor watches. Should be fun.
*Disclaimer: Nike is paying for this trip, not me. It is not affiliated with The Dallas Morning News. Readers of this blog shouldn’t be surprised if I end up liking some of Nike’s new products, and Nike shouldn’t be surprised if I end up panning some of their products. This blog is a “call-it-as-I-see-it” zone.

I’m curious how many runners change clothes in their car before a run. Surely I’m not the only one.

This practice starts with the fact that I’m too lazy to get up any earlier before work than I positively have to. This trait makes me an evening runner by default, usually after work.

I could bring my running clothes to work and change in the bathroom before I leave. But I’m not really jazzed about co-workers seeing me in thigh-showing shorts and a wrinkled men’s v-neck undershirt. We don’t have that kind of relationship.

I also could stop off at a gas station to change, but I really just want to get to the trail and down to business.

Quick car changes are tricky, at least if you’re female, but I’ve got it down. So, I bring to you my tips for changing in the car without getting arrested.

1. Park far out and open.
It would seem like it’s best to wedge your car between two big F-250s for the coverage. But the coverage goes both ways — you might not be able to see one of the vehicle owners approaching, keys in hand and jaw on the ground after catching you semi-nude. If you have someone with you to act as lookout (who you don’t mind seeing you naked-ish), even better.

2. Bottoms down.
Changing bottoms isn’t the big deal. Just make sure the coast is relatively clear, and the car itself will cover you while you shimmy out of jeans and into shorts.

3. Use your current top as a really-cramped miniature dressing room.
This is the most potentially-arrestable part, so be careful. If you’re wearing a loose top, pull your arms inside. Pull your bra off underneath. Peek your hands out from under your shirt and locate your sports bra. If it’s the pullover kind, put it around your neck. Then pull your arms back inside the shirt, grab the sports bra down inside and maneuver your arms and goods into it. Now that the prime property is properly concealed, just take off the shirt and pull on the other one.